Bedtime snack or tough it out?

[befabdaily]

OK, yesterday I somehow screwed up. I don't think I ate enough throughout the day or something. I had dinner at around 6:30ish, and felt full after eating just half the soup I made. Then just before 10, when I was getting ready to go to bed, I was HUNGRY. And not just like "oh I'd like to peck something for fun". If I'd had steamed fish and broccoli handy I'd have happily scarfed them up -- hungry.

I ended up eating a couple of scoops of coconut cream with a sprinkle of cinnamon and cocoa powder, because I didn't have anything light handy and I wanted to get rolling on my night of sleep. And also because of the admonition not to eat close to bedtime, I didn't want to eat a hunk of something solid.

In that situation, what's best to eat? Or just not eat at all? I'm not sure hunger would have kept me awake, but I'm not sure it wouldn't have.

[Tom Denham]

It is better to eat than to let hunger keep you awake. You might treat it like a pre-workout meal and eat a serving of protein and fat.

I woke up hungry at 2 AM last night and ate a can of sardines packed in olive oil to get myself settled again. I was surprised at how one small can of sardines made me feel full, but I was surprised to be hungry too, because I thought I had eaten plenty.

[Derval]

I would not be happy with sardine breath in my bed at 2am

[Robin P.]

I'm glad there's a post on this, because I experienced this last night- and felt unsure about eating something versus not eating. I did eat something but felt a little guilty.

[Gregory Wu]

I thought W30 advocated eating when you're hungry as long as you're eating the right things. (I'm a relative newbie so I'm not speaking from experience.)

Isn't the whole point that you shouldn't be feeling guilty?

[karacooks]

I have the same question as Gregory. In my reading I didn't see restrictions on when you should eat, just what you should eat. I'm concerned that for some of us who already have emotional or eating issues, feeling guilty about snacks could be counter productive.

[MarissaLinnea]

If you are hungry, eat. If you are just in a snacky mood, or upset about something, that's when I would distract myself with something else if I could.

I usually have snacks at night. There was one night I went to bed hungry, I didn't allow myself that snack and I slept like crap. So since then if I'm hungry, I eat. I always slept really good after snacking on some nuts before bed (not a bunch of them, but like a large handful)

[CAK911]

I do a handful of nuts if I'm serious business hungry, too. It's usually a sign I should have eaten more at dinner, but I have a hard time eating large meals in a sitting sometimes. I find with small-ish snacks like that, I still wake up hungry, so I assume they're not sending me too far off course.

[Kmuthig]

I'm seriously thankful for this post right now. I am on day 16 of my first Whole 30 and for some reason tonight I am hungry!

[aplentifulharvest]

Hi! I am on day 3 of my second whole30. I have this problem too! I am still nursing my toddler (so he takes very few calories but it still does affect me). 

What is the best bedtime snack to eat? carbs? fat? protein?

Thanks!

[ladyshanny]

10 hours ago, aplentifulharvest said:

Hi! I am on day 3 of my second whole30. I have this problem too! I am still nursing my toddler (so he takes very few calories but it still does affect me). 

What is the best bedtime snack to eat? carbs? fat? protein?

Thanks!

Good morning! If you're eating between meals and especially if it's a result of breastfeeding, we always recommend protein + fat or protein + veggies. If you were just going to go with one, I would go with fat.